Ford invited us down to the notorious Les Deux in Hollywood to sample booze and check out what they, BPM magazine and a graffiti artist named Slick had done to a Ford Flex. For those of you not in the know, if you ever see Britney/Lindsey/Paris getting out of $250,000 car without panties, there is a 99% chance they are headed into Les Deux. In this reporters opinion, it's everything rotten about Los Angeles shoved under one cocaine and vodka stained roof. However, I knew that once we got in, Ford had a VIP section ready for us. So, screw principles — I'm special! But, getting in wasn't so easy...

"Hi, I'm on the Ford list, +3" I told the woman in the ridiculous black hat. "Sorry, that list is closed." What? "No, I just spoke with Ford, I'm on the list. They're waiting for me inside." She wouldn't budge. "That list is over capacity. It's closed." 30 minutes of crazed text messages later, Basem Wasef finally sends me, "They know you're here. Look for Matt. Plaid sweatshirt." 20 minutes later we find Matt. "Are you Jonny? OK, wait here." Matt sticks my friends and I in a staging area before we actually get in-in. We are now face to face with the closed-list woman in the hat and her Matt Groening looking sidekick who also refused to let us in. They both look right through us. As we're about to go, Basem and his beautiful wife Anna walk up and say, "This is too crazy. Enjoy the free booze." And finally, we're in.

Yes, yes, we still love cars. And while we don't personally subscribe to the notion that 2…
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Once inside, my friends start the drinking and the dancing while I talk shop with Ford folks and Steve Levy from BPM who arranged to have the Flex graffitied. It was too hectic to take solid notes, but the gist of the story is that Steve got a look at the Flex months ago and saw real potential in the design to appeal to non-traditional markets. For an art car, we think Slick's work looks surprising, well, slick. Ford obviously wants to grab attention and build as much buzz as they can in non-traditional markets (in the case of the Flex we would guess that means families). Since cellphone chompin' exurban soccer moms and blingiest blingiddy "rappers" seem to share the near exact same taste in rides, the Flex makes a lot of sense. Two birds, one crossover stone, etc.

How does it drive? Dunno. Though a little birdie told me it, "doesn't suck." And that's all I'm at liberty to say. So, what do you think? [Photography by Melisa Altman, Jean Robison and Amy Sampson]